Hollow Man
by Insanely.Good.Liar
Summary: Naruto is only 17, and he’s already targeted by the government, a group of terrorists, and an invisible naked man. Life just can’t get any sweeter. SasuNaru AU
1. 000 The Way of the Assassin

**Hollow-man**

Insanely Good Liar

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Summary: Naruto is only 17, and he's already targeted by the government, a group of terrorists, and an invisible naked man. Life just can't get any sweeter. [SasuNaru AU]

A series of rumbling from the author: This won't be by the film!

I like bad-ass semes. Like Sasuke. He's yummy. Naruto will fall in love with Sasuke's bad-ass behavior. Not body or face. Aww…! (Insert chocolate-covered-heart here)

(_Izzy, I hope this is the 'flesh' you were talking about._)

Enjoy the story!

**::bows::**

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"The greatest treasures are those **invisible** to the eye but found by the **_heart_**."

-Unknown_

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_

Prologue

000

(The Way of the Assassin)

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One in every 12 million is a hit-man.

And only one out of five is like Haku. He was one of the older-fashioned, sword-wielding, silent men that were like a rose in a bush of thrones.

He was special. A true, cold-blooded snake.

Zabuza still remembered his taste. The way his fingers slid down and up, dancing on his body. The silent murmurs, the pleading… it was so long ago, but he presumed that it never left Haku's mind as well.

Today, Haku was wearing a beautiful olive-colored Yukata. It had green little spirals on it. His hair was tied into a neat ponytail, flipping behind him as he walked and greeted the guests. He looked like a girl, but for some odd reason Zabuza had never minded how he looks, and the guests too didn't seem to mind.

Zabuza turned his stare to the women beside him. How completely unattractive.

He rolled his eyes at her smile, and took a sip of his cocktail.

It took him about an hour to actually stumble (completely accidentally and very intentionally) into Haku. Well, not exactly stumble, they barely touched, Haku's nimble body avoided his body rather gracefully.

"Zabuza."

"Haku."

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Haku's famous fake smile stretched on his lovely pale face.

"Yes. It has." Zabuza was a careful man. His piercing glare was flawless, he mastered it years ago. Another thing he'd mastered was never to trust somebody from his business. After all, he would have never trusted himself, either.

"Aoi Rakusho."

"Abumi Zaku."

"Have a nice stay, then." Haku smiled, and with a flutter of butterfly and a smile that can win prizes rushed to his previous matters.

Zabuza, however, knew that more than anything – you should never trust an assassin.

Twenty minutes later he found himself heading to the restroom. He reassured himself he had one too many tequilas, as he stomped around the chattering and clinking of glasses. His eyes burned the guests, sending them narrow glares as he escaped to the corridor.

Really, he hated social gatherings.

He blinked when he felt something hard connect his jaw. He stumbled on the wall, and looked around… nothing.

Odd. He just felt like somebody punched him.

Next time it came it was below his jaw, sending his body up. Afterwards a kick and he fall on top of a waiter-boy that passed him by.

"Sir…?" he asked.

Now, Zabuza was no fool. Did Haku slipped something into his drink? Maybe he's hallucinating? He could feel the metallic taste of blood after the punch in the gut.

Somebody pushed him hard on the wall. Then on the bench. Kicked his balls, too hard.

He felt like puking.

"Sir, are you alright?" The waiter asked, but was sent flying to the counter wall. He knocked down the tray he was carrying, sending all the glasses flying.

Zabuza blinked when another punch came, and somebody – heck, something! – held his collar.

The shard of cold glass that still smelled like tequila was held to his neck.

"Where. Is. Itachi. Uchiha?" A voice hissed above him.

Something was wrong. Definitely. There was nobody there! A hallow air. Nothing.

"W-who-"

This time he was kicked into wood. And it hurt his back, goddammit.

The door's lock couldn't simply take it, and budged, sending him flying into a dark room.

His nose was bleeding, because he felt something hot on his mouth.

The room was dark, but surprisingly he could see everything.

Blinking in the darkness, Haku looked puzzled.

The beautiful assassin was wielding a bloody sword, Yukata half untied, slipping off his blood drenched shoulder. His hair was ruffled and it glowed from the lights in the window. Beside him, the body of Gatou, the man Zabuza had been ordered to kill.

"Late yet again," Haku smirked, on his bloody face Zabuza could see his eyes hazy with pleasure.

He growled, and was about to get up when something threw him out of the room into another door, which wasn't even locked. He blinked into the ceramics of toilet. His jaw was broken.

"Where is he?!" The voice roared.

When Zabuza didn't reply, trying to get an idea of the thing's location, he was shoved into a window. It stung so bad, his whole upper body was cut. He couldn't see in one eye.

"Well…?" It urged.

"He hasn't contacted me in months—" he took his time to take slow breathes. He could feel the wind beneath him. He was on like, what, the twelfth floor? "From… what I heard the Akatsuki fell apart—"

"I care shit about the rest of them. Where is Itachi?"

"I-I don't know-"

"Bullshit, you're his personal assassin!"

"I… I don't know where he is! I swear! I've been taking jobs from others for half a year now!"

"Fine, then. Say hello to my mother in heavens!" he was pushed further out the window.

"W-wait!"

There was a pause. The hard breathing stopped.

"There's this kid… Minato's son… He invented it. Itachi want_s_ him… He invented it, that's all I know, I swear!"

"Name."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Good."

Zabuza fell to the floor.

Saved.

"You may be invisible, but Itachi Uchiha is nothing you want to deal with." He warned.

There was a chuckle. "I know how to deal with my brother, Zabuza."

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Was it boring? Did it intrigue you? Where were my mistakes? What was making you roll your eyes? Why did you smile, or laughed? **Review and tell me about it. I'm more than happy to hear you out.**

Fortunately for you, this was 'beta'ed by _**Cheerful-Pessimist**__**, whom I love and cherish.**_ **::huggles::  
**


	2. 001 Investigation

IGL

HOLLOW MAN

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Sorry for the long wait. Tried my best. Checked by the marvelous, awesome Cheerful-Pessimist!

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Investigation

001

Kiba Inuzuka was a man of principles.

He was about 26, he had brown wavy hair, pretty alluring eyes and he could party all night long. But when he met his partner in the morning, his mood would immediately go down.

"Inuzuka." The guy said, monotonic and cold.

"Hyuuga." He greeted back, mimicking the other. "So, what today?"

"Baby-sitting."

"Yay."

The older one sneered down at him. "Get into my car, we're late."

Being a cop was… a job. It took him three and a half years to finish the police academy, only for what? Only for being tortured by this creep… (Who had a hot sister, by the way.)

"Uzumaki Naruto. 17. His mother and father died half a year ago. They were wealthy enough to have three houses around the USA and one holiday-house in the Caribbean, had ties with the government; his father worked on something fishy, I couldn't really understand on what exactly." He revved the car before continuing; "Anyway, the kid's a genius; he was nominated to work with some researchers to complete his father's studies. A month ago, all the research facilities were shut down – once again, something fishy. The journalist that worked on an article about it was bribed to shut up. Yesterday he was killed." Kiba was looking out of the window, and it annoyed him a bit but he went on; "The kid reported strange men following him, and because of once again, some fishy reason, the FBI decided that we are perfect for the job."

"Wow. I'm impressed. You actually lost me after the word 'Caribbean'."

Neji Hyuuga growled.

He was tall and had a long silky hair. Kiba hated his guts. Well, not really hated… But, you know… he was annoyed. A lot. The guy was a prissy robot with no emotion whatsoever!

When they rung a doorbell, it made a jingling sound.

There was silence afterward.

There was a sudden breeze from behind that made chills run down Kiba's spin, the kind that said someone was standing behind him – of course, there was nobody there. He turned to Neji a bit puzzled. Neji looked sideways, and back to him.

Then a crush came from the house. Followed by something breaking. "FUCK!"

Another something breaking. Some running. "Shit! Fuck! Come on, Pukkun! Stop fucking breakfast! Oh god!"

When the Inuzuka looked up, he blinked at the three cameras that stared blankly at them. One at each side. The things also seemed new and advanced, sleek gray; hidden inside a shell and barely noticeable at night. In addition, a little alarm with a little red bulb. Looked like the guy was a complete nut-case about privacy.

He jerked when he heard unlocking. Another set of unlocking. And another one, followed by two sets of keys jingling and revving.

Not privacy… security.

He heard Neji suck his breath inside and turned his head to the door.

The thing was blonde, extremely cute with a pair of unbelievingly blue eyes, and tanned skin; he was standing in green boxers and a simple white shirt, holding a dog.

"Uh… sorry, I'm not used to guests… I kind of fell asleep."

"It's okay," The Hyuuga was quick to reply, entering without further explanation. "FBI agent, Neji Hyuuga." He showed the teen his badge. "And this is Kiba Inuzuka, my partner."

Kiba had to the urge to make faces at him behind his back but was afraid that it might look childish. He was a cop, after all.

"Please come in," Naruto offered, opening the door wider and greeting Kiba with a smile.

Kiba replied with a grin.

He had the sudden feeling he'll like this boy.

………………………………

The brunette had studied the bedroom and workplace very carefully. He was messy, the Uzumaki guy, messy and sloppy.

He had at least seven computers, most of them had something going on, some kind of calculations, like they were being controlled by an outside force, one had large thumbnails of the current situation of each camera (there were twelve of them); most of them were infrared.

Others just had information, like data-bases, and opened internet pages, and formulas and biological stupid models. Between the computers were dried and empty ramen cups (many of them.) A few beers, a few coffee mugs, an ultraviolet lamp that was shaped like an eyeball, colorful 'post-it' notes had covered the whole place– stuff like "Remember to lock system." And "PHGf 66743990" and "wet-and-hot-pussies. com\98\Janie"

He smirked vaguely, and entered the messy closet room, checking for any kind of suspicious devices. The only thing he did find suspicious that most of the clothes were on the floor, hanging off the drawers and stuffed together in big piles, and one cup of ramen was on the top shelf, alone and empty.

"Nothing here," he called as he passed the sheet-less bed, with the 'Pokémon' blanket. He almost stumbled upon a ginger cat, as it hopped on the naked mattress. The cat licked his paw, looking weirdly at Kiba as if he was invading his privacy.

After he went down, he raised his eyebrow, when he saw Neji vibrantly talking to the guy who seemed a bit at loss.

"So," Kiba rudely interrupted the talk about birds that Naruto seemed to have no clue about, "Who do you think follows you?"

Neji made an unpleased noise (which, by the way, accidentally pleased Kiba), and as if mentioned about his job, adjusted his sleeves, and kept a stern face.

"I seriously have no idea."

"then why do you think you're being followed?" Kiba continued, looking sideways and adorning how clean the living room looked compared to his bedroom. The thing was that… it was also collecting dust. Naruto probably never visited here.

"I don't '_think_', I know. Well… there's too much reasons why to track me down, but I'll tell you one reason why not; because I'm_ not _dead _yet_. You see, I can't tell you the whole story, but the very few who were working on the project with me, had all died, in some mysterious, weird ways, or disappeared from the face of earth. Ah! Wait!" He stopped, and took the first writable thing that was at reach (a girly magazine) scribbled some formula on it, and continued; "It's not that I'm scared shitless of getting hurt, even though I am… I'm scared that here," he tapped his temple. "Will be taken and used for wrong things."

Kiba glanced at Neji to see him wearing the same expression he wore; 'Is-he-from-mars?'

………………………………

Unlike what Kiba expected Naruto was easy to get along with.

He was a grinning idiot, who was also a klutz, a devoted ramen-addict, and a computer-freak. They would play together World of Warcraft when Kiba was questioning him, and piss the shit out of Neji.

What Kiba hadn't really wanted to talk about was the fact that Neji had a small, insignificant crush on the blond. He would notice vaguely a small blush when he blond refused to put pants on and would walk around in boxers, he'll pause every time Naruto addressed him and the worse of all, he'll stutter or start meddling with his tie.

Utterly disgusting; he didn't even knew the guy for 24 hours.

What more, every 15 minutes, Naruto had an alarm on his computer – he would check all the cameras closely and go back to his business.

Eventually the evening arrived, and Neji had decided (on his own, mind Kiba) to guard outside.

Naruto was getting ready to bed – wore his sleeping hat and pajamas, yawned a few times, and Kiba immediately understood that even though he talks with big, grammatical words, and can solve hard equations, he's still a kid, and he needs protection.

For some reason that opened a new, fatherly side in Kiba (even though he would deny, he secretly wanted reading the blond a bed-time story).

"Who's that…?" Kiba asked, while Naruto fixed his pillows for the extra bed. He took a blue framed photo, which stood on the bed-stand.

Two grinning faces stared back at him. They looked much alike but there were a lot to differ. A woman was standing behind them, waving her hand. She was in a purple bikini, her long red hair blowing in the wind, as she held her hat.

One of the grinning boys was Naruto, wearing orange swim trunks with blue swirls. The other was smaller, he was trying to drape his hand over Naruto's shoulders but could only get to them if Naruto would bend down more. His trunks were blue with red swirls.

"My little brother." Naruto quickly answered.

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah. He's in France."

"Oh… Why?"

"I'm not the only gifted one in the family. Konohamaru's… interests are just different."

"Hmmm?"

"He's… well… an artist – at least he's learning how to be one. He's really good though. Saw the paintings in the living room and the ones in the kitchen? They're all his."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"What about your mom?"

"She… had another kid coming… but couldn't deliver him."

"What…?"

Naruto sat down on the bed, and sighed looking at the windows. "Mom was pregnant; with another boy." His tone sounded serious. "The baby was in distress. They had to operate and get him out. There were a few complications and… Well, she couldn't make it."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Kiba put the picture down, feeling stupid. He avoided Naruto's eyes, feeling a bit shameful for asking that. But he needed to ask questions.

"It's okay." Naruto smiled.

"And what about the… well, the unborn child?"

"I… don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I was eight back then. I lost my mother… I think he died too. But I'm not so sure now…"

Kiba sat down on the bed.

"Why do you think that?"

"When dad died, he hadn't written a will yet. But he had left all his property divided between three brothers. Uzumaki Naruto, as in me. Uzumaki Konohamaru, and… Uzumaki Gaara."

"You think he's the one who's been following you?"

"No, there's no guarantee it's him. Besides, if it is him he'll be only nine. But you see, I'm worried that; if we don't know about him, what if the people he's with know about us? What if those who look for him know about us?"

"So what if they do-"

"It's complicated. I'm going to bed." Naruto sighed and plopped onto his bed.

It was clear that the guy was hiding something pretty big. Kiba sighed.

………………………………

He woke up every two hours in order to check the insides of the house and on Neji. They might be connected only in an earphone, but he was still an ass. The guy complained about freezing, death and the fact that this neighborhood looked like a -- Kiba almost wrote it down in order to never forget to words he used; -- 'fucking dream-land Street that probably has tons of pedophiles lurking around'.

But somewhere near twelve he woke up.

He was trained for these situations very carefully. Light Sleeping – it was called. His eyes would automatically open when he heard something that isn't supposed to be heard. It can also be used to fool the enemy; he would look completely asleep but he could hear his surroundings like a blind man.

It was the sound of typing, he detected.

Somebody was messing with the computer, and rather quickly.

He immediately assumed it was the blond, but as he sat up quietly, he saw the boy sleeping like a log. He had soft snores and one of his cats were lying on his chest; looking royally comfortable.

The typing continued and he seemed alert now that there was something wrong.

"Neji." He whispered; trying to be as husky as a murmur.

"What?" the other replied over the static into his ear.

"I think there's somebody inside the house."

Neji didn't reply for a few long seconds; but Kiba didn't dare to move. The typing paused for a second and continued once again. He could hear a few hushed clicks. "I'm coming in." the ear phone finally answered.

"Wait. Stay down. If I lose contact - come up."

Kiba felt his gun from under the pillow. He was relieved to feel it in his hand. He cast a worried look at Naruto before drawing it out as quietly as he could, but the real difficult task was to stand up without making a noise. The futon rustled when he stood up and made the typing in the next room stop.

Breathing hard, he pressed the gun to his face and moved to the wall. The light from the monitors blinked in various colors, but it seemed to do it for quite a while now.

There was complete silence. Rustle, murmur and then a few clicks on the mouse. There was somebody there. He peeked inside, but only saw the chair hiding away a figure. There was clearly somebody moving the mouse in one of the monitors.

"Stop right-" The Inuzuka burst into the room; gun pointed at the seat but saw nothing. The silence greeted him. His instincts never failed him before like that. He slumped his gun away from the screens and looked around. There was no way somebody broke by the window since all of them were sealed. No means to escape but the room's entrance.

"Inuzuka?" Neji voice emitted from his ear. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah." Kiba found himself dumbfounded. He was sure there was something here.

"I hoped you died on me." The other confessed with a slight amused quirk in his voice.

Rolling his eyes, the cop walked to the corners – checking for possible escape routes. "Ah. Now we know it's mutual."

"What did you hear?"

"Typing. Clicking. Somebody was next to the computer… There's nobody here, though."

"That's a bit weird. Usually you're intuitive like hell."

A sudden breeze brushed past him and Kiba turned his head automatically to the exit. There was no door since it was a part of the bed-room, divided by a wall, he could see the blond sleeping like a satsfied fox on the bed. He was sure something walked by him.

A shiver danced down his spin and he shuddered, feeling cold and scared.

"This place gives me the creeps." He said rather quickly and came back to the bed.

"Want me to come up?"

"What for?"

Neji seemed to be working on an answer but came up with none. "Is the kid breathing?"

"Who? Your new token of affection?" Looking at Naruto sleeping form, made Kiba feel at ease suddenly, so he continued but in a lower voice; "Soundly asleep."

He was surprised to hear a chuckle from the cold asshole. "Fuck you." Neji's voice sounded sweet from poison. The FBI agent snorted in reply and closed his eyes, trying to get back to sleep.

………………………………

Neji woke Naruto up somewhere near the noon.

He sat up with a startle, started running around, looked at his tapes for an half hour while eating his ramen, and only then relaxed.

He started working on something and Kiba stared at him, enjoying the quick typing. His typing was softer and much quicker than the other in the night.

Neji put a coffee mug in front of him, a scowl adorning his face. "Thanks. You're being too nice lately… I might get suspicious."

"No. I just think you're finally going nuts. I do fancy a laugh once awhile; Hearing ghosts at nights? I might even get a new partner!"

When hearing it, Kiba started thinking that Neji might actually be right.

"You think his dad might still be here? his spirit?"

"Sometimes, I wonder if the reason they gave me a gun was to shot you."

"Really? I was thinking the same about you. What a weird coincidence."

Naruto suddenly jerked up and glanced to the sides. "Who just touched me…?"

"Nobody, we were sitting here."

His tanned face turned paler and paler by the second. "Oh shit…" Kiba could almost see his breathing hitch.

"What's wrong?" Neji stood up.

But before Naruto could reply the doorbell ringed.

………………………………

"I'm agent Kabuto Yakushi." He smiled, and showed his badge.

His clothes were very formal and he entered without being invited in. He looked around. "Naruto, right?" He turned to the blond that nodded.

"What's this about?" Kiba matted in before the older male could talk further.

"It seems like your job is finished, gentleman. The government is taking Naruto to a more… _secure_ house."

"I'm not going."

"What do you mean 'finished'? Why weren't we informed?"

"I'm sorry… But your department must have misinterpreted the importance of his well-being. This is a primarily governmental security matter. You are dismissed from your duty."

"We cannot be dismissed unless by our supervisor." Neji already had his phone at his ear, and Kiba glared at the new comer and his silver hair.

Naruto looked scared; "I'm not going anywhere…!" He exclaimed again.

"Your supervisor will tell you the same." Kabuto continued, his eyes roaming around the room, inspecting the surroundings. He put his finger on the surface of the dinning table, and when he found dust on it, he frowned and looked even more critical.

"Yes. Yeah, I understand. We will report in an hour. Thank you. I'll see you in the office." Kiba turned to Neji who sighed loudly, making Naruto turn to them; "You can't be serious! I can't leave here! What about my cats, and my dog! And-"

Kiba looked almost as angry as Naruto, and this left the Hyuuga at a sore spot. "I'm sorry. Chief needs us for another case already and-"

"What?! That old bitch! But what about Naruto? Has she gone mad?"

"Yeah, what about _me_?"

He sighed, trying not to look amused at how alike the two looked. It didn't help that they were the same size, and wore the same expression.

"Kiba, there is nothing we can do."

………………………………

For some odd reason, Kiba decided to blame it all on Neji.

He slammed the jeep's door with a loud bang and his partner growled at him; "He'll be fine."

"They are probably going to do tests on him! Because he's so smart…" Looking worriedly at the house from the window, the Inuzuka hated the fact that he was leaving the boy in other's hands.

He heard the click of Neji's belt and frowned at how unemotional the guy was acting; "I can't believe you! Didn't you like him?"

"Rather than the token of _my_ affection, Kiba… Looks like you got a strange attachment to him."

"Of course, I-"

"You barely knew him for three days. Control yourself."

"I should be saying this to you." He huffed, crossing his hands on his chest.

"Right."

"_Right_."

"Good."

"Great."

"You are starting getting on my nerves, Inuzuka."

At some reason, that fact alone made Kiba feel much better.

………………………………

Meogi stared at him so horribly it made his heart ache.

"It's going to be fine. I'll be back in a day or two after throwing some tantrums. Don't worry."

She mewled, watching closely what he was doing.

A warm breath gust blew on his ear. He jerked, spun and held onto the closest, biggest thing.

He knew somebody was there. He waved the vase to the sides, but it didn't hit a thing.

His heart pounded in his ear. He really _shouldn't have_ invented something like that. What was he thinking when he created it? Benefit the country? Increase his salary? For god's sake.

A finger ghosted on his shoulder and went down his back, creasing his shirt.

"Fuck!-" He cursed, and the tips of his fingers caught a glimpse of skin. That certainly did freak him out, and he yelped.

_It _chuckled, close to his ear, and now in panic, Naruto threw the vase at _its_ direction. It evaded rather successfully and the vase hit the wall, and shuttered into millions of pieces.

"Is everything alright?" Kabuto looked surprised, and Naruto took a few long breaths before smiling.

"Everything's fine!" He assured. "Udon just broke a vase!"

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Once again, Sorry for the long wait!


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